Fortuitous
by nickersoncrazy
Summary: After an anguishing breakup, when a case leads Nancy and Ned into being captured together, they find that a little delve into their romantic past is inevitable. Oneshot. Contains spoilers.


Hey all.

Okay, so let's imagine Nancy isn't half as good the detective she really is. That way, in False Moves, when she and Ned get locked in together, she wouldn't have had her lock-pick kit, thereby forcing them to do a little... reacquainting. This story is how I'd have liked that missing scene to be.

Enjoy!

* * *

"We're stuck," Nancy Drew said flatly. She sighed resignedly, brushed a wisp of her reddish-blonde hair away from her eyes and gave the firm wooden door one last yank, the result of which, it continued to stand tauntingly adamant.

"Let me try," Ned Nickerson said from behind her. Nancy stepped aside and watched him extend a well-developed arm and strenuously rattle the door that still remained in favour of their capturer. She noticed his muscles flex, and for a moment, her heart unexpectedly skipped a beat.

"Looks like I need to work out more," he said giving her an impish grin.

Situation momentarily forgotten, Nancy smiled back. "Don't feel too bad," she said teasingly.

The two of them were locked up together in the Chicago Ballet Theater's costume shop by someone who increasingly seemed to appear as a tenacious criminal, someone who wouldn't hesitate to kill, even. Nancy had employed herself as an amateur detective to hunt down the Raja diamond that had been stolen radically on the night of the company's show—a loss that could prove to be terminally injurious to CBT's reputation and possibly ruinous fiscally as well.

On the top of her suspects list was so far Belinda Morrison, her ex-boyfriend Ned's girlfriend. The reason for that was more than just jealousy, given that she was so devoted to her career that it seemed like she'd go to any lengths to progress—even if it meant crime. She was an élan, debonair ballerina at the company and as much as Nancy hated it, she was also gorgeous. Nancy had found her personality downright repulsive and it was mind-boggling that Ned liked someone as obnoxious as her.

And even though Nancy had tried to move on, her heart still inexorably belonged to Ned. Despite her prevailing feelings, she had begun dating Brad Eastman, a law student, who was good-looking and nice but he still wasn't as wonderful as Ned had been and deep down, Nancy knew that the discrepancy in her feelings towards the two of them would always be significant.

"What now?" Ned asked.

Nancy smiled helplessly. "I don't know," she admitted. "I think all we can do is wait and hope someone notices we're missing."

With subjugated hunches, they returned to the stools they'd been seated on before getting locked in. Lapsing into silence, both their minds were miles away from the case in their hands.

Nancy turned toward Ned, a whisper of a smile touching her lips. His dark brown eyes were as warm and sweet as she remembered. A lock of his thick, dark curled onto his forehead and Nancy suddenly felt an overpowering urge to reach out and gently brush it away. He still had that perfect, wonderful, enticing smile that had never failed to ease her during all those stressful, intricate cases she had encountered in the past. She recalled the tingle that passed down her spine when he used to hold her in his arms; her body lovingly cradled against his solid frame.

As she continued silently contemplating, she felt a wonderful warmth pass over her body coupled with a twinge of sadness that yanked at her heartstrings because everything was part of the past—a past that now breathed for her.

Their break-up had come with the rapidity and unexpectedness of a thunderbolt. It had been an agonizing ordeal for her, causing many a tear, her heart having been gripped by the worst pain she ever remembered feeling. He had been badly hurt, demented with pain, and uncertain of her feelings for him. But those sleepless nights, the barrenness in her heart, the incapacitating terror at the prospect of him never loving her again, and all those other emotions that were beyond her heart's capacity to bear, had only substantiated the love and passion that lived in her heart like a roaring, inextinguishable fire that refused to ebb. But her recurring, oscillating flings and infatuations hadn't been the best way to corroborate her feelings. Throughout their time apart, there had always been a blind longing to be near him; an unspoken distress at being far. She still found it hard to digest the fact that they were no more what they once used to be. A wave of hurt and anger flooded over her that was much stronger than reason.

"Are you okay?" Ned's husky voice broke amidst her thoughts.

Nancy looked up and saw his face filled with concern. "Yeah," she whispered, and forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Ned smiled softly at her. "So."

Nancy's eyes flickered with amusement. "So?"

"How are you?"

"Are you trying making small talk, Nickerson?" she asked, rolling her eyes playfully.

"Yes," he answered, grinning. "Not succeeding, though, apparently."

"I'm good," she said, trying to sound convincing.

It hurt a lot to think that they'd been a couple of lovebirds just weeks ago, talking incessantly on the phone while Ned was away in college and now all they shared was a lousy platonic relationship, struggling to strike up some inane, desultory conversation. The change was too drastic and painful.

"I've been hanging out with Bess and George a lot," she explained. "So life's pretty entertaining."

The corners of his eyes crinkled up. "How could it not be with those two."

"Yeah." Nancy smiled. "Bess drew out a timetable for me for an interview with her multitude of exes. And she has a new boyfriend, of course. You know how she believes in the concept of trial and error. And she tried talking George to enrol at a charm school because she's just too sloppy apparently."

"Charm school!"

"Yeah," Nancy said, grinning broadly. "She thinks George needs to be more lady-like so guys will start flocking behind her."

"And did she do it?"

"Of course not!" Nancy exclaimed. "Poor George looked horrified enough to flee the country! But Bess_ is_ teaching her to ballroom-dance in footwear that isn't sneakers."

Ned laughed and they lapsed into another deadly silence.

"Do you remember the first tine _we_ danced together?" Nancy asked softly, smiling fondly at the memory.

"Yeah," Ned answered. "Sophomore year. You gave me blisters on my toes the size of golf balls."

Nancy giggled. "I was just so nervous, Ned!" she said, getting animated. "And if I remember right, you almost broke my spine when you tried to dip me!"

"I was trying to be… suave," he said, blushing. "But not as suave as you were trying to be that time you cooked me dinner!"

"Oh… I remember!" She chuckled. "You said that cafeteria mystery meat was gourmet in comparison."

"It was the bare truth."

"I was just trying to be romantic!" she said. "And a week later, you showed up on my doorstep with that giant stuffed bear that said 'I'm beary, beary sorry'."

"And let's not forget the 'Cooking for Dummies' book."

She giggled again. "That was cute."

"We've had our good times, haven't we?" Ned asked softly, his expression nostalgic. "I want to thank you for everything we've been through, Nan—including the food poisoning."

Nancy's throat tightened with an irrational rush of emotion. "You're a sweet guy, Ned," she whispered. She lifted her head to look into his eyes, and saw the boy he'd been three years ago choking on her unpalatable cooking, and was suddenly perilously close to tears. "A really sweet guy."

"Don't try to ruin my carefully constructed tough-guy image," he said grinning, his eyes tender.

"It doesn't work for you."

Her heart soared when she felt his strong hand reluctantly touch her hers. He gently stroked her fingers with his thumb, and responsively, her hand curved into the crescent-like arc of his palm. She looked up, lips slightly parted, her incandescent blue eyes meeting his kind brown ones, and for a brief yet interminable moment she could feel the rousing of the remnants of the indelible love they had once shared.

Hands still locked, she pushed her stool sub-consciously closer to him and noticed the scarcely detectable amount of palpable yearning on his face. Long-suppressed emotions wrestled with her resolve, and with a laborious effort, she forced herself to look away, despite longing for him to lean over and kiss her, and broke the spell that had caught a hold of them.

Her eyes were now impregnated with wretched tears at the agony of desire unfulfilled. The pain of losing him was only too savage, too untamed to be concealed. The perennial ache that had lived in her since Ned had estranged her was tenfold now at having him so near, yet so far away. Her need for him to love her was so great that it was now physical pain; silent, sharp, transcending anguish.

With heartbreaking tenderness, she felt Ned cup her face and turn her to him. The look in his eyes betrayed all the emotions he'd struggled to keep under control. Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned forward helplessly and wrapped her arms around his neck. He held her tightly around the waist, rocking her soothingly. They clung to each other for a few minutes before Nancy jerked away suddenly, looking embarrassed.

Ned pulled her back into his arms; his eyes filled with tenderness, and gave her a warm embrace. Her fingers wove into his soft hair while his hands meandered up and down her back. He pulled away slightly to look at her face. She tried to tear her longing eyes away from him, but the sensuous curve of his mouth compelled otherwise.

When his face moved close to hers, everything around them spun in slow-motion; when his lips came upon hers, the world came to a standstill. For a moment their lips merely touched, the both of them inhibited by their past and too shocked by this sudden feat to do any more. Slowly and tenderly, almost afraid, Ned began pressing her lips with his own, his arms tightening around her. Stroking the hair at the nape of his neck, Nancy responded to his kiss just as gently.

Ned pulled away and lifted his head a fraction long enough to look into her eyes through his long russet lashes. She opened her mouth to speak but before she could say anything, he leaned down and fully claimed her mouth again. This time he kissed her deeply, familiarizing himself with the taste of her again. She dotingly traced a finger down his cheek, down his neck and then spread her arms across his broad shoulders.

Nancy lightly pulled away, breathing audibly. She closed her eyes and the next moment she felt Ned's forehead pressing hers gently. She longed to tell him that she loved him but at that very moment her courage decided to fail. She wanted to him about the nights she'd spent sleepless, conjuring a romantic make-up for them—a destination she distraughtly needed to reach. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into Ned's nutmeg-brown ones. Smiling tenderly he lightly brushed the tip of his nose against hers.

"Nancy," he whispered adoringly and stroked her cheek. "You're so wonderful."

"You are too, Ned," she said, deeply gazing into his eyes, her voice tear-laden.

With complete knowledge that any sort of resistance would be ineffective, she closed her eyes, and with no preliminaries, caught his lips between her own. Her heart beating with immoderate desire, she permitted her emotions to run riot, and pressed a series of invigorated, impassioned kisses in rapid succession against his mouth which sparked off a chain reaction of his responses.

"I love you, Ned," she gasped suddenly. The tears began to fall. "I love you so much."

As the startling enormity of her word seeped through him, Ned lovingly pulled her into his arms began planting tender kisses sporadically on her alabaster-perfect face. "Nan, I love you too," he whispered in her ear. He gently traced his lips over the contour of her jaw and down the curve of her neck. Nancy's heart catapulted into her throat when he began kissing her again and she felt happiness spill through her like a raging torrent. The shattering completeness of his kiss reignited a long smouldering ember and unleashed a greater need inside them. The warmth of his caress raced through her senses.

"What about Belinda?" Nancy asked despondently when they broke apart, and wiped away her tears. "You love her, don't you?"

"Belinda?" Ned said disgustedly. "Nancy, Belinda is the queen of snobs!"

Nancy's jaw practically touched the floor. "A _snob_?" she asked incredulously. "You seem so lovesick every time you're with her!"

A grin tugged at the corner of his lips. "What makes you think I wasn't _acting_ that way to make you jealous?"

Nancy's eyebrows shot up. "Oh? And what made _you _think I'd_ get_ jealous?" she asked, her eyes dancing.

He shrugged. "Actions speak louder than words, Nancy," he said. "And let's just say there's been a _lot_ of action happening between us." He smiled and ran his hand through his now-tousled hair. "What about Brad?" he asked more quietly.

"I never loved him," she answered without hesitation. "Not the way I loved you."

"Loved?"

"Love," she corrected. "I love you." She reached out and covered his hand with hers, her eyes glistening. "And Ned, if you're willing to give our relationship another try… I swear, nothing would make me happier."

"Nancy," he whispered. "You've hurt me in the past."

"I know I have," she said quietly. "But being away from you made me realize how much I need you in my life. You're very special to me and I want to prove it to you." She waited for what seemed like an eternity before he replied, her mind plagued by horrible permutations of his potential answer.

"Let's talk," Ned finally whispered huskily and kissed her smile.


End file.
